It’s been a while since I’ve said this, but believe me this is a huge week for the NFL. The NFL owners meet Tuesday and Wednesday and then negotiations will pick up again.

Commissioner Roger Goodell’s challenge is to get the owners behind the basics of the plan that have been discussed in the not-so-secret talks over the last few weeks. When the deal is complete 24 of the 32 owners must agree to it.

Although the first Sunday of the regular season isn’t until Sept. 11, there is plenty to do before then — free agency, minicamps, training camps and preseason games.

Time is of the essence.

There’s a chance if an agreement can be reached within weeks and the lockout lifted, that training camp which usually starts at the end of July could be moved up two or three weeks to make up for the lack of offseason team workouts.

It’s up to Goodell and to DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA’s executive director, to get the deal done. The clock is ticking.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

BEVERLY HILLS — For the first time since the NFL lockout started in March, Lions players, coaches and management will be on the same soil.

They will take part in the Detroit Lions Golf Invitational, an annual money-raising event at the TPC Michigan in Dearborn on Tuesday.

Will it be a little strange?

Perhaps.

“They realize that’s how it is, we realize that’s how it is. Maybe we can sneak in a secret conversation. Just kidding Goodell, I’m kidding,’’ center Dominic Raiola said referring to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after Monday’s informal workout.

“I think you can say hi to them. I don’t know how that works. I think team charity events that’s all right,’’ he added.

Since it was the owners who locked out the players, the coaches and management could be more tight-lipped. The players have nothing to lose.

“I don’t think we have any ground rules, I don’t know what the coaches rules are or people in the organization. I guess it will be strange but we’ll see,’’ said Kyle Vanden Bosch who will attend for the lunch only. He’s not a golfer.

“It will be good to see their faces again. I don’t know what we can talk about so it will be a little bit strange,’’ Vanden Bosch added.

Still, credit the players for making an effort to attend.

They could have snubbed their noses at management, but obviously won’t let the lockout get in the way of a good cause.

In its first 20 years, the Lions’ golf invitational raised nearly $6 million for charity.

“Yeah, it’ll be different, but it will be fun as always,’’ quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

The Lions worked out as a team informally on Monday. They didn’t plan a workout for Tuesday because of the golf event. They’ll continue their workouts on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

The Lions start the 2011 season with three of four games on the road and end it playing the Packers at Lambeau Field on New Year’s Day. In-between they'll play their first Monday night game in 10 years when they host the Bears at Ford Field on Oct. 10.

If they have a good season, the finale against the Packers could be huge. Lions president Tom Lewand appreciates that and apparently so did the NFL schedule makers.

The Lions have no excuses when it comes to the schedule, not like they’ve ever used that excuse.

They open at Tampa Bay where last season they finally snapped that God-awful road losing streak. They play the Packers on Thanksgiving. And they get Christmas day off but playing on Christmas eve.

The only damper on the release of the NFL regular season schedule on Tuesday, is that the season is in jeopardy because of labor issues. Mediation resumed on Tuesday.

Roger Goodell said on TV on Tuesday night that they have every intention of playing every game on the schedule. Perhaps then they should have found a way to reach an agreement with the NFLPA instead of locking out the players.

Here’s a look at the full schedule. — At Tampa Bay Bucs, Sept. 11 — Kansas City Chiefs, Sept. 18 — At Minnesota Vikings, Sept. 25 — At Dallas Cowboys, Oct. 4 — Chicago Bears, Oct. 10, 8:30 p.m. — San Francisco 49ers, Oct. 16 — Atlanta Falcons, Oct. 23 — At Denver Broncos, Oct. 30, 4:05 p.m. — Bye week, Nov. 6 — At Chicago Bears, Nov. 13 — Carolina Panthers, Nov. 20 — Green Bay Packers, Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving) 12:30 p.m. — At New Orleans Saints, Dec. 4 — Minnesota Vikings, Dec. 11 — At Oakland Raiders, Dec. 18, 4:05 p.m. — San Diego Chargers, Dec. 24, 4:05 p.m. — At Green Bay Packers, Jan. 1

(All games at 1 p.m. unless otherwise noted.)

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

After appealing the tampering charges filed by the Kansas City Chiefs in December, the Lions have now gotten back their seventh-round draft pick, according to a report by ESPN.com’s Mike Sando. That pick had been taken away prior to the appeal.

With the return of this seventh-round pick, the Lions will have six picks in the draft, April 28-30.

But, oddly enough, they will lose their seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft. They will still swap fifth-round picks with the Chiefs.

Were they guilty? Sounds like the answer was maybe just a little

The Lions have been mum on the charges and would not even confirm that they had appealed. That information was released inadvertently by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a few weeks ago.

No matter what the lockout situation is, the draft will go on. The Lions have the 13th overall pick to get things started.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

If one thing is clear to fans during the NFL’s lockout of the players, it’s that they will be the ones who will eventually pay. Not figuratively, but literally.

The league already makes $9 billion a year in revenue and, obviously, that comes from the pockets of the fans.

In an online live chat on Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked how the lockout will impact fans. The question included the line “fans are and should be frustrated.’’

Goodell’s response was: “The fans should be frustrated and I share that frustration. We need an agreement that will ensure the future of the game. We are well aware of the rising prices for fans attending our games. We are trying to slow the growth of costs so we can be affordable to the broadest number of fans possible. We recognize what the fans are going through.’’

Actually if both sides were concerned about the fans, a deal would already be in place. It’s that simple.

And fans are right, eventually they will pay for this with higher prices for tickets and merchandise.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

Surprisingly, don’t hear much concern from Lions fans about a possible NFL lockout. Certainly it remains a strong possibility.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires March 4. If there is no new deal in place the owners have threatened to lock out the players. Negotiations have been limited and, according to some reports, contentious.

The players would be happy to continue with the same terms of the current CBA, but the owners want a bigger piece of the $9 billion a year in revenue.

A lockout could affect thousands, not just the owners and players. If games are missed, it will hurt local economies.

In that light, the Kansas City Star reported that Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser sent a letter to Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt with a suggestion that makes sense.

Part of his letter read: “Accordingly, I call upon the owners to announce to the fans that they will not lock out the players. The players already have pledged to not strike. By making the parallel commitment, the owners would create the breathing room for a deal to be struck. This is common sense if the owners truly want to keep the game going, as Commissioner Goodell has stated.”

Common sense, what a concept.

Stay tuned for updates in the weeks leading up to March 4.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

With the March 3 deadline approaching, NFL fans got good news today when the NFL and NFLPA announced they have agreed to talk starting on Saturday, the day before the Super Bowl.

The two sides haven’t had meaningful talks in months, so it’s a step in the right direction.

The statement issued by both sides said: “NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and Commissioner Roger Goodell met today in New York to discuss a range of issues related to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. As part of a process to intensify negotiations, they agreed to hold a formal bargaining session with both negotiating teams on Saturday in the Dallas area. They also agreed to a series of meetings over the next few weeks, both formal bargaining sessions and smaller group meetings, in an effort to reach a new agreement by early March.”

If a new agreement is not reached there’s a possibility the owners will lock out the players.

The NFL is so wildly popular that Sunday’s Pro Bowl game drew monster ratings -- the biggest since 2000. The TV ratings were surprising because as they say there’s nothing like good football and that was nothing like good football.

Perhaps that’s the impetus to get back to the bargaining table. Both sides know the NFL and its players would take a hit if the season is shortened or not held at all.

(Follow me on Twitter @PaulaPasche.)

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's comments on the Thanksgiving day game have me wondering if the Lions (and Cowboys) are headed for another showdown with the rest of the league when the owner's meetings convene two months from now in California.

The Lions successfully fought off a measure by late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt to rotate the game a few years ago, and if you remember back to November there was some public outcry that the Lions, who've lost their last five turkey-day games by an average of 23.4 points, should give up their holiday tradition altogether.

Goodell said at his pre-Super Bowl press conference that the Lions will play on Thanksgiving next year, but didn't commit beyond that.

“It's a great tradition in Detroit and in Dallas,” Goodell said according to a transcript of the session. “It's something that our owners have raised from time to time. It will not change for this season. As to whether the ownership feels the same, we will discuss it as we get later into the year. We certainly will raise it.”

Certainly will raise it? That sounds ominous.

New Lions coach Jim Schwartz said at a town-hall meeting Monday that he intended “to put a barbed-wire fence around that Thanksgiving day game.” That jives with how the Ford family feels about a tradition that's sacred locally. But I wonder how much pull ownership will have now that its trump camp, Ford Motor Company's advertising budget, has been so dramatically affected by the economy.

Beyond the Lions' atrocious holiday play, there's also a feeling that teams the Cowboys benefit by, effectively, having an extra bye week built into their season. Schwartz referenced that benefit Monday as well.

I don't know if there'll be enough support to alter the schedule for 2010, but it could happen sooner than you – or Schwartz – think.

• ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert is reporting that “there have been recent indications that the Lions were focusing in on” former Jaguars executive James “Shack” Harris to be Martin Mayhew's assistant general manager (or some like title).

I left Harris a message a short while ago and he has not yet returned my phone call, but a person close to Harris said suggestions he could soon be a Lion “are not untrue.” I've written it before, but it bears repeating that I think Harris would be a wise hire. He's built the sort of teams Mayhew envisions in Jacksonville and Baltimore, and he has an eye for finding late-round talent in the draft. If it happens, Mayhew should be complimented for fortifying himself with one of the best available options for the position.

• Finally, following up on my report from earlier this week about Shawn Jefferson and Sam Gash remaining on staff next year, both men will coach the same positions under Jim Schwartz – receivers for Jefferson, running backs for Gash – that they did under Rod Marinelli.